Leaven - I'm trying to put a gap in the process.
Question
I have only made and used a leaven once before and I am interested in putting a gap in the process. I started a leaven, foolishly, two days before I went away on a short break of four days. The leaven had been maturing for two days, so I popped it into the coldest part of the fridge then when I returned, because it looked very healthy, I continued feeding it. Effectively, it is now on its fourth day but I want to know if it will be useable in view of the four day break? Also, can a leaven be used, say after three days, if it is fermenting well?
Answer
Leavens are remarkably resilient, very high temperatures will kill the yeasts but this is only over 75 centigrade, cold really only slows the rate the yeast multiply, which is essential if you are going away and can't feed them.
I have found it an excellent plan to put the leaven in the fridge as it slows the whole process down, but you will need to be careful to make sure there is enough yeast food, i.e. fresh flour available, otherwise even though the process slows down it will begin to become very sour.
The balance in nurturing your leaven is to ensure the lactobacilli don't become too dominant, this balance is maintained by feeding the yeasts, if the yeast food runs short the yeasts will stop multiplying and the lactobacilli become more active and the acidity will rise, making the leaven sour not sweet.....this balance has to be regulated by you to suit you own preference...
You can dry the levain in a warm oven and then store it as a dried crispy product, which when rehydrated comes back to life!!
Have fun, and let me know how you get on.
Kind regards,
John
Added by: tom
Freeze some.
I have 4 leavens on the go each with a back up of abut 300 gms frozen at a time. Every two months I defrost at room temperature for about 12 hours, feed and allow the leaven to become active again. I then freeze a new batch of about 300 gms. I am told a leaven will keep for years in a freezer, and it's reassuring to know there is a back up if the leaven becomes infected (as has happened twice). Other than that my leavens just sit in the bottom of the fridge. When I want to bake I remove, feed, take some for a production sourdough and pop the rest back.
Wheatoholic: 2012-05-07 Add reply
If you have to leave your levain for a longer period I find it best to make it thicker than you normally would. This gives it more to work on in the fridge while you are away. If it has become sour you can wash out some of the acid by filling the jar with warm water, tipping all of it away except one cup full then feeding this in the usual way and keeping it in a warm place for a few hours. Keep doing this until it is active and happy. If you get it about 28degrees C it will become more acid
ee@knowland.co.uk: 2011-12-02 Add reply
RE:
Sorry typing error: I meant to say if you get it ABOVE 28 degrees it will become more acid
ee@knowland.co.uk: 2011-12-02
Working with a leaven
If you bake once a week you could try the following - Take leaven (circa 500g ) out of fridge Friday pm and feed with equal amounts of flour and water - say 300g each. Leave it out of the fridge but covered and airtight. If it's in a plastic bowl a similar inverted bowl on top will do the job. This will be useable Saturday am, or if you are going to bake on Sunday then feed again on Saturday pm. Before you start mixing take 200g ish leaven and mix with 200 flour / 200 water and place in a sealed container in the fridge. This will last until next Friday with ease. Using 200g of leaven per loaf will give you about 4 decent loaves although you may increase the amount of leaven when it's colder! 200leaven / 10 salt / 300 water / 580-600 flour. Hope this helps? Note - if the original request had a date it would help me know if this reply is too late?
Wombi: 2011-05-23 Add reply